Allentown Firm To Make, Sell Brittania Goods

June 13, 1990|by MICHAEL HERNAN, The Morning Call

One week after it purchased several clothing brand names from a Massachusetts manufacturer, Allentown apparel maker JIK Ltd. has signed an agreement to manufacture and market Brittania Ltd.'s new line of women's sportswear.

The move marks the latest -- and biggest -- piece of JIK's rapid expansion over the past six months.

Under the licensing agreement with Brittania, a division of San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co., JIK will manufacture women's sportswear at its facility on Gordon Street in Allentown.

JIK vice president Jon Klein said the company may increase its local employment as a result of the agreement, but said it is too early to determine how many employees may be added. JIK now employs about 180 people at its Allentown facility and 20 people at its New York sales office.

The agreement also helps JIK, which has primarily been a private label manufacturer, to attach itself to a well-known name.

"This really gives us the punch to manufacture and market a major branded product," said Jonathan R. Smith, JIK's executive vice president of manufacturing and strategic planning.

Margie Hanselman, merchandise manager of Brittania's women's wear, said the license with JIK will allow the company to begin a push into women's sportswear. The company had previously concentrated on such products as jeans, shirts and skirts.

"We see this as a major step for us," she said. "It gives a couple of new product lines to take to the consumers."

Hanselman said Brittania plans to launch a major advertising campaign this fall for both its men's and women's sportswear.

The agreement comes on the heels of two major expansion moves for JIK.

On June 7, JIK announced that it had purchased the Garland sportswear brands from Falls River-based Garland Corp.

JIK, which posted sales of about $35 million last year, has spent more than $1 million installing new equipment and cutting-room procedures at its Allentown facility. Smith said the moves have helped increase the plant's production to about 20,000 dozen units a week, up from an average of about 12,000 dozen a week six months ago.

Klein said JIK will continue to consider new expansion but that for the "short-term" it will focus on the initial stages of its Garland and Brittania clothing.